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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26696368">Two Sudden Residents</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuki_Nyanmaru/pseuds/Yuuki_Nyanmaru'>Yuuki_Nyanmaru</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arashi (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:07:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,664</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26696368</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuki_Nyanmaru/pseuds/Yuuki_Nyanmaru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><em>But then again, if his boyfriend had already returned home, Sho wouldn’t have stood in the terrace for half an hour waiting for him.</em><br/> <br/><em>“Where is he?” he muttered while checking his phone. “Already past 10pm…”</em><br/> </p>
<p>Little did Sho know, that his boyfriend was coming home with what would be his two biggest headaches.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aiba Masaki/Sakurai Sho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Two Sudden Residents</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello everyone! So, I have a soft spot for dogs, and lately, I've been thinking a lot about Sakuraiba x dogs, so here we are. This is probably the fluffiest thing I've ever written, so reading this fic could cause you cavities. Sorry in advance. Anyway, hope you like it! &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sho shivered in his white T-shirt, before going inside and closing the terrace door behind him. The chill autumn breeze had already started with October almost kicking in. Usually, he wasn’t a person who suffered the cold weather, - surely not like his friend Jun, - but staying outside tonight really made him regret not having worn something warmer.</p>
<p>But then again, if his boyfriend had already returned home, Sho wouldn’t have stood in the terrace for half an hour waiting for him.</p>
<p>“Where is he?” he muttered while checking his phone. “Already past 10pm…”</p>
<p>Aiba should have come back one hour ago, and yet, there was no trace of his handsome boyfriend in their apartment. Sure, Aiba wasn’t famous for being on time, but being one hour late was too much even for him.</p>
<p>Sakurai’s mind was full of questions and worries, already imaging all the bad scenarios that could have happened. After all, Masaki had been at his parents’ in Chiba, and maybe during the ride towards the centre of Tokyo…</p>
<p>“Sho, stop it, he’s fine,” he reassured himself, shaking those negative thoughts from his head. He decided to go make himself some tea, so he could both distract and calm himself down.</p>
<p>Just as he was about to enter the kitchen, he heard the familiar noise of keys before the front door was open. He took a sigh of relief, rushing to the alley.</p>
<p>“Masaki! Where have you been?!” he asked, more worried than angry.</p>
<p>“Sorry Sho-chan, I had… Something to deal with…”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>Aiba didn’t reply. Actually, he didn’t even turn around once. Sho dismissed it as nothing since his boyfriend was crouched down, untying his shoes to put on slippers. However, he started to get suspicious when he stood up but looked at the ground without moving.</p>
<p>“Masaki? What’s wrong?” he asked with a calmer tone.</p>
<p>“Can you wait for me in the living room?”</p>
<p>“Sure…”</p>
<p>Sakurai started to be really confused, but he followed the other man’s request, and went into the living room, where he sat on the sofa.</p>
<p><em> Seriously, what has he done this time?, </em> he thought. The last time he had acted this oddly was when he had scratched Sho’s car with his bike in the apartment complex’s car park after all.</p>
<p>“So, Sho-chan,” Aiba spoke loudly from where he was, still at the front door.</p>
<p>“Yes?” Sho showed he had heard him.</p>
<p>“We’re kind and generous people, right?”</p>
<p>Sho furrowed his eyebrows, “I hope so?”</p>
<p>“I mean, you would like to help if you could.”</p>
<p>“Of course…?” Sho had tilted his head to the side.</p>
<p>“And, do you remember when we said that it would be nice to have a pet in the future?”</p>
<p>Just that sentence made him understand what Aiba had done. He opened his eyes wide and stood up. Right there at the living room’s door was the evidence. Masaki was holding two tiny puppies, white with some brown spots, who looked really scared and defenceless.</p>
<p>“Masaki…” he whispered.</p>
<p>“They were alone in the street, I couldn’t stand by and watch them suffer!” the man justified himself. “Look at them, they must have been so terrified. Who knows how long they had been abandoned.”</p>
<p>Sho couldn’t utter a word. As much as he shared Aiba’s feelings, since those two puppies really didn’t deserve that terrible fate, he didn’t want those two soon-to-be beasts around his house. Unlike Aiba, he wasn’t very fond of dogs. Yeah, they were nice and all, but actually dealing with them all day long? Crazy.</p>
<p>“Listen…”</p>
<p>“No, Sho-chan, I don’t care what you think, I won’t let them sleep on the street ever again,” the taller man said seriously.</p>
<p>“I don’t want that as well. However, we could bring them to a shelter, you know? I’m sure they’ll take care of them even better than us.”</p>
<p>“Shelter? At this hour? Impossible. At least tonight, we’ll have to keep them here.”</p>
<p>His boyfriend was firm on his point, and he refused to listen to reason. Sighing, Sho could only go along with him. It was only one night after all, right?</p>
<p>“Fine, what should we do?” he ended up asking.</p>
<p>Aiba’s face lit up like the sun on a summer day. “Prepare a blanket to put on the floor, water and then look if we have some food we can give them. I’ll go give them a bath.”</p>
<p>“Got it,” he said, but then his brain elaborated Aiba’s words. “Wait, bath?” Where?”</p>
<p>“In our bathroom?”</p>
<p>“You crazy?! You can’t put them in our bath tub! Have you thought about bacteria?!”</p>
<p>Aiba looked confused at his sudden outburst, and he looked around for a bit. After a few seconds, he spoke: “Then where should I do that?”</p>
<p>“Fill up a bowl or something and do that on the terrace.”</p>
<p>“But it’s cold!”</p>
<p>“I don’t care! Those two things are not going into <em> my </em> bathtub!”</p>
<p>“These two things are dogs! Treat them with respect,” Aiba retorted, rather angrily.</p>
<p>“Fine, fine, do what I said.”</p>
<p>Aiba pouted and nodded, and whispered something along the lines of <em> Always commanding outside of bed, huh... </em>, but he decided to ignore it. Not like he could say anything against that.</p>
<p>Sighing once again, Sakurai went to their bedroom looking for a spare blanket. Opening the wardrobe and digging a bit, he found at the back a burgundy checkered cover they hadn’t used in years, and decided to go with that. He set it up at the very end of the living room, near the terrace, as far as possible from their bedroom.</p>
<p>He moved on to his next task, food and water. After a bit of research, he found some light bread, which would be good enough for that night. He put both the water’s bowl and the one with the bread next to the blanket and then went to see what his animal lover boyfriend was doing outside.</p>
<p>Aiba was shampooing the dogs with very much care, trying to be as gentle as possible. He didn’t want to scare them after all since the poor puppies must be suspicious of humans by now, so Aiba was attempting to gain their trust.</p>
<p>If he were a dog, Sho would trust Masaki right from the first instant. How could you not when he looked at you with those heartwarming and shiny eyes, after all? Aiba was a literal sunshine, everyone would smile whenever they were looking at him, and gather around him as plants which need sun rays.</p>
<p>Masaki must have noticed his fond smile, since he had just blown him a kiss. Sakurai returned it, but couldn’t help but feel worried when his eyes landed on the two dogs who were now searching for Aiba’s hands. They were going to get attached to him, as his boyfriend was already with them, and the separation would be way harder.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>After the dogs were dried with a towel and then later with a hair dryer, they finished all the water Sho prepared for them, as well as all the bread. The two puppies were not scared anymore and were now enjoying Aiba’s strokes. Sometimes, they would even lick his hands, to which he would respond with a smile and a kiss on their heads.</p>
<p>“These two girls are so cute.”</p>
<p>“Are they females?” he asked from the sofa. It’s not like he didn’t want to get near the dogs, but he preferred to leave them to Aiba, who was surely better than him.</p>
<p>“Yeah, noticed it when shampooing them,” the man replied, “I’m glad that they’re calmer now. If I hadn’t found them, they would still be out in the cold.”</p>
<p>“Well, with all that fur I don’t think they would have issues. Also, autumn has just started, it’s not that cold…”</p>
<p>Aiba turned and glared at him and he could only apologize, standing up and reaching them. He sat down next to his boyfriend and acted as regretful as possible.</p>
<p>“Fine, I’ll forgive you, but just this once,” Aiba said and leaned in.</p>
<p>Sakurai dodged immediately, “You kissed them with the same mouth, don’t you dare come near me.”</p>
<p>“I freaking showered them.”</p>
<p>“They’re still animals.”</p>
<p>Aiba grumbled, and then whispered, “So, I guess having them sleeping with us is impossible…”</p>
<p>“Heck yes, it’s definitely impossible,” he affirmed.</p>
<p>Luckily, the taller man didn’t complain too much about that and just accepted his disposition. To show his gratitude, Sakurai left a peck at the top of Aiba’s head, where he was sure the dogs didn’t touch.</p>
<p>“I’ll go to sleep then, you should go soon too.”</p>
<p>“I’ll be there in a while,” Aiba replied.</p>
<p>They exchanged goodnights before Sho, with a last glimpse at the now half-asleep puppies, walked away towards their bedroom. Even though Masaki said that he would reach him soon, he knew his boyfriend too well to believe that. Aiba was surely going to spend the night next to the two little sisters, sleeping while hugging them.</p>
<p>If that were really the case, then Sho already knew what his next lock screen would look like.</p>
<p>-------------------------</p>
<p>The next morning, just as he had predicted, Sho found his boyfriend lying on the floor next to the puppies. Aiba had covered them with his black hoodie, and those three were basically cuddling on the checkered blanket.</p>
<p>It had taken him a lot to wake Masaki up, since he seemed to be having a very nice dream judging by his smile. After that, they both did their usual morning routine on a Saturday morning, before the two puppies woke up. Before he could say or do anything, Aiba had offered himself to go buy dog food, and he left in a minute.</p>
<p>So, here was Sho. Left with those two animals he really didn’t want to have any contact with. The only reason that pushed him to at least <em> try </em> to deal with them was his immense love for Masaki. If the dogs started to cry or be sad once again, then this would reflect on his lover as well, and the thing he hated the most was to see Aiba sad.</p>
<p>Gathering up all his patience, Sho picked up his newspaper and went to sit on the armchair near the burgundy blanket. He crossed his legs and started to read. He hoped that having him that close to them was enough for the two dogs to be satisfied.</p>
<p>He had just started to read the politics column when he felt something brush his foot, and he swiftly moved it away. Looking down, he saw one of the sisters staring at him.</p>
<p>“What is it? What do you want?” he asked, as if the animal could reply to him.</p>
<p>The puppy sat down and kept on looking up at him, sometimes caressing his leg with her head.</p>
<p>“I’m telling you, you’re not going to get cuddles,” he stated, then pointed to the other dog, “Go to your sister.”</p>
<p>However, she didn’t move and stayed still. She had her huge eyes fixed on him, her tail moving from side to side, and her tiny paws slightly touching him. What caught Sakurai’s attention was that the white fur on her head was very wide, leaving the brown spots only around her eyes and then covering all her ears. Her sister, instead, had less white fur, while the dark brown covered more than just her eyes.</p>
<p>“Well, at least I can recognize you this way.”</p>
<p>Since the dog didn’t have any intention to move from her spot, Sho decided to give her some pats, hoping that this would make up for whatever she was asking for. Not to his surprise, though, he was wrong, since she made an attempt to climb where he was sitting.</p>
<p>“No, no, you’re not going anywhere,” he affirmed, gently pushing her down.</p>
<p>The dog tried some more times to reach Sakurai on his seat and she was starting to struggle, but luckily Aiba came back and captured all the puppies’ attention.</p>
<p>After he had given them food and water, Masaki went towards him, sitting on the armrest. “Did you socialize with them?”</p>
<p>“Kind of?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” the man asked giggling.</p>
<p>“One of them came up to me and stared at me. I gave her a pat on her head and she tried to climb on my lap so I had to push her down,” he explained, leaning on his lover’s side.</p>
<p>“Bold of her to assume that you would have just let her on your legs.”</p>
<p>“Indeed,” he nodded.</p>
<p>“Saint Bernards are friendly dogs, so you should have expected that.”</p>
<p>“Saint Bernards?” he questioned, checking if he had heard right.</p>
<p>“You didn’t recognize their breed?”</p>
<p>“You’re telling me those two dogs are Saint Bernard?! The ones that get really huge and really chaotic?!” he sat up and stared at the two tiny creatures who were currently enjoying their breakfast.</p>
<p>“Yes?” Aiba said in a whisper, before continuing, “Guess that the chances to keep them are zero now… Right?”</p>
<p>“Of course! They were zero since the beginning, now it’s a confirmation!” he exclaimed.</p>
<p>“But Sho-chan, if we bring them to a shelter they may get adopted by two different families. Do you want to separate them?” the man said, trying to give him puppy eyes himself.</p>
<p>“Masaki, how the heck are we going to keep them here? We live in an apartment!”</p>
<p>“Excuse you, but we live in one of the biggest apartments in the neighbourhood, which also has a very wide terrace. We even have a park right around the corner.”</p>
<p>“Well, <em> excuse you </em>, but we have a full time job, who’s going to look after them?” he retorted, crossing his arms and feeling that familiar feeling starting to run through his veins: the nervousness he always got during an argument with Masaki.</p>
<p> “We can hire a dog sitter for work days.”</p>
<p>“Then why not just give them to a shelter? It would be the wisest decision, believe me.”</p>
<p>The taller man looked away and wore a sad expression, clearly not cool with Sakurai’s suggestion. He knew right from the start that these two dogs would have caused conflict. As much as he understood Masaki’s feelings, he had to be the voice of reason and let him understand that they couldn’t stay with them.</p>
<p>First, they were going to be <em> huge </em> when growing up, and this meant that they could cause damage to their house. What if they destroyed his precious snowglobes' collection?!</p>
<p>Second, the Saint Bernard was a very clingy type of dog, and he really didn’t need that kind of nuisance.</p>
<p>Third, Sakurai was someone who needed to have everything under control to be at ease. Having a dog would make his life difficult. Having <em> two </em> dogs? And two <em> Saint Bernards </em>? He would go insane.</p>
<p>“I’m really sorry Masaki,” he started, approaching him and caressing his hair, “But we have to let go of them. You already helped them, right? You saved them, you did your part.”</p>
<p>Aiba didn’t return the hug he was receiving, instead, he mumbled, “At least let me decide on which shelter.”</p>
<p>Sho agreed to that, and since he couldn’t bear to see his boyfriend in that state, “We can keep them here until you don’t find a shelter you trust.”</p>
<p>“Really?!”</p>
<p>The other man hugged him back tightly, leaving a kiss on his cheek, before going to the two puppies.</p>
<p>“Then, we can give them names!”</p>
<p>“Masaki…” he groaned.</p>
<p>“Oh, come on, what’s the problem? What if their future owners give them weird ones?”</p>
<p>He shook his head laughing, surrounding Aiba with his arms, “Do you have anything in mind?”</p>
<p>“Well, since they’re like our daughters,” he said, patting their heads, “What about Shoko and Misaki?”</p>
<p>“Please, stop.”</p>
<p>Aiba looked at him confused, “Why? Don’t you like them?”</p>
<p>“I forbid you to call them that way,” he said.</p>
<p>“Then, how should we call them?” the man asked back.</p>
<p>“I don’t know. People usually name pets after something they like?”</p>
<p>Masaki smiled widely at those words, and picking up the dog who was cuddled up against him, he declared, “If that's so, then I’m going to call her Shoko. It’s something I like after all.”</p>
<p>Sakurai literally facepalmed, and wanted to object but the dog from before went to sit right on his foot.</p>
<p>“Since she seems very fond of you, even though I don’t know how, you choose her name,” Aiba decided.</p>
<p>“You sure? I could call her ‘Work’,” he joked.</p>
<p>Aiba laughed, before taking the dog he was carrying, the now-called Shoko, out on the terrace, “Think about it!”</p>
<p>Sho was left there with the other sister, who seemed to have fallen in love with him for some reason. He crouched down and the puppy immediately laid down, waiting for cuddles. Sighing, he gave in and started to run his hand through her fur.</p>
<p><em> Naming you after something I like, huh… </em>, he thought while his eyes shifted to the terrace.</p>
<p>Masaki was playing with Shoko, running around the whole wide terrace.</p>
<p>He smiled and returned his gaze to the puppy, before whispering a name, “Sunny…”</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>Later that day, just during an average Saturday, Masaki and Sho were cuddled up on their couch, ready to watch a movie. However, their peaceful evening was interrupted by the two sisters, who had just woken up from their nap and were now all lively and ready to play.</p>
<p>“Shoko, come here!” Aiba said, leaning towards the dog, but he was stopped by Sakurai’s arms.</p>
<p>“They’re not going to climb on the couch.”</p>
<p>“You are so strict,” the man complained.</p>
<p>“These are the rules. No playing inside, no climbing on the couch or armchair, and never entering the bedroom,” his voice was firm, highlighting the seriousness of the rules.</p>
<p>“Fine.”</p>
<p>Aiba climbed down from the couch, so that Shoko could sit on his thighs. At that moment, the other sister also approached them, joining her sibling on the man’s lap.</p>
<p>“Ah, right, did you find a name for her?”</p>
<p>“Sunny,” he replied.</p>
<p>Aiba turned his head towards him, “Because you like the sun?”</p>
<p>“Because I like something very similar to the sun.”</p>
<p>It took Masaki a few seconds to get the reference, but he soon smiled fondly at him, taking Sho by his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.</p>
<p>“I love you, you know that, right?” his lover whispered on his lips.</p>
<p>“I do. And I love you as well.”</p>
<p>If they were alone, this would have soon turned into a make out session, but unfortunately, they had now two dogs who reclaimed Masaki’s attention from him, and Sho decided to not fight against them.</p>
<p><em> As soon as pets get near him, I always have to take second place </em>, he complained in his mind. In the past he had to fight for his boyfriend against women and men, and he had won, but now, he couldn’t believe that he had to lose to two dogs.</p>
<p>-------------------------</p>
<p>
  <em> Two weeks later<br/><br/></em>
</p>
<p>“A month-long trip?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, they want me to work closely with the client in Fukuoka…”</p>
<p>“Who’s gonna take care of Shoko and Sunny then?”</p>
<p>“Well…”</p>
<p>Aiba was staring at him with pleading eyes, and Sho immediately covered his, “No, you’re not going to convince me.”</p>
<p>“Sho-chan…” Masaki had now crawled onto his side of the bed, his limbs already intertwining with Sho’s, trying to make him agree.</p>
<p>“No, Masaki, no. I can’t stay with them a whole month!”</p>
<p>“We already have a dog sitter for them, you will only have to look after them after work and during weekends. It’s not that bad, I do that everyday!”</p>
<p>“<em> You </em> do that, exactly. I’m hopeless, I can’t even approach them properly,” he whined.</p>
<p>“That’s just because you’re too cold towards them. This month could help you to open up!” the man said, enthusiastically.</p>
<p>“Masaki, I think you forgot that we’re searching for a shelter, right?”</p>
<p>Aiba averted his gaze and moved a bit away, clearly avoiding the question.</p>
<p>“Listen,” Sakurai started, “Two weeks had already passed. The more you wait, the worse it will become.”</p>
<p>“I know…” his boyfriend replied, letting out a sigh.</p>
<p>“You promise me that after this trip you will decide on a shelter?” he said, taking his face into his hands and brushing his thumbs against the other man’s cheeks.</p>
<p>Masaki covered Sho’s hands with his, before nodding slowly. He could see that his smile was sad, and he tried to ignore the sting which hurt his heart at that moment, convincing himself that it was for the best.</p>
<p>At that moment, their slightly opened door was slammed open as if a tornado had just hit it. Sitting up, they saw Sunny and Shoko trying to climb onto the bed, and after some tries, they actually managed to do so.</p>
<p>“Get down, right now,” Sho said firmly.</p>
<p>“They must feel lonely tonight, they really can’t sleep here with us?” Aiba said, taking the dogs in his arms already.</p>
<p>“No, they can’t,” he restated.</p>
<p>“You know, they climbed on the left side of the bed, which is mine. They must already know that you would have kicked them out,” the man laughed.</p>
<p>Sunny moved towards Sho’s side, but he shifted backwards. The dog, however, didn’t let that stop her and reached him to cuddle on his lap.</p>
<p>“She likes you, she must have nice taste,” Aiba commented.</p>
<p>Sakurai glanced at him with an amused smile, but eventually took Sunny and Shoko and brought them to the living room. After settling them down on their blankets, he spoke loudly so the other man could hear him, “I’ll stay with them until they’ll fall asleep, alright?”</p>
<p>“Got it. Try to grow fond of them in the meanwhile, so we can keep them!”</p>
<p>He shook his head while taking his seat next to the dogs. Staring at them he thought, <em> I’m not going to fall for you. </em></p>
<p>-------------------------</p>
<p>Aiba had been in Fukuoka for two weeks already, and Sho was about to explode. He had lost count on how many times he had to stop the two little sisters from crashing the various knick knacks spread around their apartment.</p>
<p>Once, Sunny had almost pushed down the silver frame they kept in the living room with her tail, resulting in Sho having to move it to the bedroom. Shoko was always in need to be stopped from bumping into the terrace's door, since she couldn’t understand yet if the glass door was open or not.</p>
<p>Also, every time they ate they would make such a mess, Sakurai ended up making them eat outside. As he thought, they bore the cold really well after all. However, one Sunday morning after their breakfast, they started to play with the plants, resulting in all the vases being dragged down and soil being scattered throughout the terrace. That day, Sho had to gather all his self control to not kick the two dogs out.</p>
<p>And let's leave aside the fact that those two little pests even did their business everywhere, driving Sho to exasperation.</p>
<p>There were many reasons why he had never owned pets, and the time spent with the two Saint Bernards was reminding him of them all. He just couldn’t deal with them. And the fact that Sunny and Shoko were getting bigger every day was scaring the hell out of him.</p>
<p>“If they’ll turn into giants so soon, I’m going to dump them at Nino’s,” he said to his boyfriend, who was behind the other side of the screen, eating his dinner.</p>
<p>“Even though Nino owned a dog in the past, he wouldn’t have the patience to look after ours.”</p>
<p>“Do I look like I have that patience?!” he exclaimed in disbelief.</p>
<p>Aiba laughed out loud, “You’re working hard. Thank you very much for looking after our daughters.”</p>
<p>“Stop calling them like that. They’re animals.”</p>
<p>“We always said what it would be like to have children, but we can’t have them, right? So, what’s wrong with considering them as such? They might be animals but they have feelings as well; I’m sure they look at you as their dad,” Aiba said while chewing his noodles.</p>
<p>“Well, they do make me crazy as two toddlers would indeed,” he sighed.</p>
<p>“Just two weeks and I’ll be there with you.”</p>
<p>They smiled at each other and for minutes no words were spoken. It was only them eating dinner and flashing heart eyes at each other, as if they were on their first date. However, their sweet moment had to end because Sakurai had still reports to check, and he couldn’t be too much on Skype.</p>
<p>“Let me see my girls first.”</p>
<p>Sho rolled his eyes before bringing his PC to the living room, where the two dogs were playing with each other.</p>
<p>“Shoko~ Sunny~” his lover called.</p>
<p>The two Saint Bernards saw the PC but even though Aiba was there smiling and waving at them, they retrieved to their nest, looking at him suspiciously.</p>
<p>“Ah, they’re not recognizing me,” Masaki said, sadly.</p>
<p>“Wait, let me try again,” Sho said, trying to approach the two dogs again.</p>
<p>However, that move wasn’t very welcomed since both Sunny and Shoko started to bark at Aiba. Needless to say that Sakurai started to freak out.</p>
<p>“No! Wait, wait! Calm down! You’re going to wake up all the building!” he hissed in vain.</p>
<p>At one point, Sunny even ran up to the PC, as if trying to get it out of Sho’s hands. “You’re going to destroy my computer, stop it!” he scolded her, and stepped back.</p>
<p>“Well, I missed you too, I guess,” Aiba said, a bit saddened, “Give them a kiss on my behalf.”</p>
<p>“You crazy,” he chuckled. He was now back at the kitchen table.</p>
<p>“Oh, come on. They love you! I’m sure you bonded so much in these weeks.”</p>
<p>“We both know you’re their favourite,” he faked a pout.</p>
<p>“Oh, please, Sunny clearly has a soft spot for you,” the man affirmed.</p>
<p>“Are you trying to comfort me?” </p>
<p>His lover didn’t reply, only smiled and gestured a pat on his PC, as if he were doing that to Sho’s head. He grinned flustered, before turning serious again.</p>
<p>“Anyway, I have a report to complete, so I have to go now.”</p>
<p>“Always working,” the other man complained.</p>
<p>“Be sure to go straight to bed after finishing your dinner, it’s late.”</p>
<p>“Always worrying.”</p>
<p>“Always annoying,” he told him, mimicking his tone of voice. Masaki would always whine about how Sho doted on him way too much, but he knew that deep inside the man appreciated that. After all, isn’t it nice to have someone worry and take care of you?</p>
<p>“Sorry, sorry.”</p>
<p>Reluctantly, they exchanged goodbyes as well, before turning off the call. Sakurai sighed, and walked up to its study. At least work would let him distract himself from the fact that Aiba wasn’t there with him.</p>
<p>It’s not like they’d never been apart. Actually, these long work-related trips happened twice or thrice in a year. However, living in the same house for now 6 years had made them so used to having the other one around, that when they were apart it was almost unbearable.</p>
<p>He still remembered when he had to go on a trip and they had been living together only for three months. They had missed each other so much that Masaki went all the way to Sapporo just to stay with him one weekend. He still remembered how surprised and happy he was to see him waiting for him in the hotel’s lobby.</p>
<p>“<em> I had nothing to do this weekend, you know… </em>” he had said, while staring at him with his beautiful brown eyes.</p>
<p>“<em> And you decided to spend it with your annoying boyfriend? </em>”</p>
<p>“<em> Of course, </em>” he had replied, whispering in his ear.</p>
<p>That weekend in Sapporo had been one of their favorite trips, because it had felt like a short honeymoon of sorts, since after moving in together they couldn’t really ‘celebrate’ it. They had been very romantic and passionate in every possible way, in those two days...</p>
<p>Sho cleared his throat, scolding himself for having such thoughts when he was supposed to be working. He sat properly at his desk and started to look through tons of documents.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>Sakurai jumped on his seat when he felt his foot being touched. A look confirmed that it was his two pets, which made him realize that he had kind of dozed off while working.</p>
<p>“Why aren’t you asleep?” he asked, yawning.</p>
<p>Sunny replied with a nudge to his ankle, while Shoko climbed up onto the footrest nearby.</p>
<p>“You girls want to keep me company?”</p>
<p>Both sisters stared at him without moving from their spots; actually, they laid there and made themselves comfortable. Sho didn’t know if they were lonely, or if they thought that <em> he </em> would be lonely, but that made his heart melt a bit. These two dogs were just too sweet, and he was beginning to be uncertain on whether to really give them to a shelter.</p>
<p>Not that he stopped thinking that their house and their life-style wasn’t suited for them, but Aiba was right. What if the two sisters were separated? They were really affectionate to each other, and it would literally <em> hurt </em> to see them live each on their own. Plus, now not only his boyfriend, but even Sho would suffer their absence.</p>
<p>Looking at the both of them, he could only feel sadness. Only two weeks before Aiba would return home and they would decide on a shelter…</p>
<p>
  <em> I can still stop falling… </em>
</p>
<p>-------------------------</p>
<p>“Sunny! Shoko! Masaki just sent us a video!” he shouted while going to the terrace.</p>
<p>The two dogs immediately reached him and stared at the phone, which was showing an excited Aiba telling them that he could come home tomorrow morning. Again, the dogs were very suspicious of the Aiba behind the screen, and so didn’t have much of a reaction.</p>
<p>Putting back the phone in his pockets, he tried explaining them and he didn’t know if they really understood what he meant, but he was sure that they kind of got it because they started to wag their tails happily. Or maybe, they were just happy that Sho had finally come home after a long day at work.</p>
<p>“Did you actually miss me?” he said, crouching down and petting them all over. Shoko replied with tiny licks on his hands, while Sunny tried to stand up on her legs so she could reach Sho’s face. He lowered his head and she caressed his cheek with her nose.</p>
<p>He chuckled, before getting on his feet, “Let’s go eat dinner, shall we?”</p>
<p>The dogs barked excitedly, since by now they’d memorized the words which meant that they were soon getting food, and followed Sakurai inside. If before he had them eating outside, in the last week he had let them in the kitchen. At first, the only thought of them eating in the same room as him would have freaked him out, but when one evening he felt <em> extremely </em> lonely, he had decided to just have them eat with him.</p>
<p>Maybe it was because the time for goodbyes was approaching, but this week he had been very lenient with the dogs. When he was watching TV, he himself signalled them to climb on the couch and cuddle with him; when he was reading his newspaper in the armchair, he let both of them sit on his lap, even though it meant to not be able to read at all since they kept on trying to eat the paper.</p>
<p>He would never admit this to Masaki, but he had also been playing with them in a very childish way: running around, rolling on the floor, and he had been even giving out kisses and caresses way, way too often.</p>
<p>He couldn’t lie to himself anymore.</p>
<p><em> I fell for them </em>.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>Since he had to review his employees’ papers, he was working even that night. It was past 1am and he had made it through only half of them. He wanted to shut everything and just go to bed, but he couldn’t so he stretched his arms and resumed his task.</p>
<p>At that moment, he heard some footsteps and he smiled at once. Shoko and Sunny were always coming to see him whenever he shut himself in his study, especially at night. They would just stay there with him. They didn’t look for cuddles, they didn’t come to play. They just stayed there, as if they were there for <em> him </em>, as if they didn’t want him to be alone.</p>
<p>“You’re too good with me, girls,” he said when they went to their usual positions: Shoko on the footrest and Sunny next to his desk chair.</p>
<p>As much as he liked having them around, he would really be late that night and he knew that they weren’t going to fall asleep since he used to read out loud.</p>
<p>“Shoko, Sunny, I’m really sorry,” he began, before standing up, “I’ll be late so it’s better if you go to sleep.”</p>
<p>He walked up to the door and signalled them to exit the room. The sisters weren’t following at first, refusing to move from their seats, so Sho had to take both of them into the living room himself. They were already starting to grow bigger and bigger, so it had been difficult to lift them up.</p>
<p>He tried to ignore the sad looks they gave him, and he returned to his study, closing the door. The dogs scratched on the door a bit, and even wailed lightly, but eventually gave up.</p>
<p>To say that his heart clenched wasn’t enough. <em> Ignore it, ignore it </em>, he told himself.<br/><br/></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sakurai looked at his watch and yawned satisfied, half past 3am and he managed to finish all his work. To be honest, he was afraid to take even more time, but luckily he ended earlier. Also, the next day was Saturday so he could have rested all he wanted. And since Aiba was going to be back by morning, he couldn’t wait to be woken up by his gentle and sweet voice.</p>
<p>Running his hands through his hair, he walked up to their bedroom only to find their dogs lying on Aiba’s side of the bed, sleeping. He sighed and went to sit next to them, patting their heads gently.</p>
<p>“I miss him too,” he whispered, his voice suddenly broken.</p>
<p>To think that this could be one of the last nights with Sunny and Shoko made him almost tear up. The times in which Sho had cried could be counted on one hand, and yet here he was, fighting tears because of two Saint Bernards which made him go crazy this past month.</p>
<p>How funny that the one who wanted them out of their house, was the one who now felt as if he couldn't live without them. They were just dogs, why did he have to get that attached to them? How could he let them have their way to his heart?</p>
<p>Sho stood up but as his hands approached them to move them away from the bed, he stopped and shook his head. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and then wore his pyjamas, before joining the sisters on the bed.</p>
<p>“Only tonight,” he said.</p>
<p>He moved close to them and hugged them, just as Aiba did the first night they came to their house, a single tear running down his face.</p>
<p>-------------------------</p>
<p>He was woken up by Sunny and Shoko barking.</p>
<p>“What is it? What happened?” he asked, concerned.</p>
<p>He was alone in the bedroom, and he feared that the dogs might have done something and hurt themselves. He rushed to the living room, but found no one. Glancing at the terrace he saw that they weren’t there as well.</p>
<p>Going back inside, he followed their noises and finally found them at the entrance, throwing themselves at Aiba.</p>
<p>“My daughters, I’ve missed you so much!”</p>
<p>“You’re back…” he said, almost in a whisper.</p>
<p>“Good morning, Sho-chan. I’m back,” his boyfriend greeted him.</p>
<p>Sho went to join the two dogs and hugged Aiba, before leaving a long kiss on his lips, “I missed you so much.”</p>
<p>“I missed you too,” the man replied, returning the kiss, and then, after returning to the dogs, “And I missed you too of course!”</p>
<p>“This house was very empty without you.”</p>
<p>“Empty? Even though they grew up this much?” Aiba questioned, shocked, “You’re so big now! Look at you!”</p>
<p>If Sakurai had a camera, he would have snapped a picture of that moment: Sunny and Shoko looking up at Aiba, giving him kisses, while his big arms were around them, caressing them.</p>
<p>“I love you all so much,” he blurted out.</p>
<p>He thought that the taller man didn’t hear, because he stood up to take the luggage to the bedroom, but as he was going away he heard, “I love you all too, very, very much.”</p>
<p>He smiled.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>“And finally, after a month, I can sleep again in my bed,” Aiba declared while falling flat on the mattress.</p>
<p>“I thought you were going to say ‘<em> next to my lover </em>’ but that would be too much to ask, right?”</p>
<p>Aiba laughed out loud, before getting up on his knees and bringing Sho down with him. He left him a kiss on his cheek, “That was implied, I didn’t think I needed to say that as well.”</p>
<p>Sakurai didn’t reply, he had been waiting too much and he wouldn’t waste time talking now. Grasping Masaki’s face with his hands, he began to kiss him, slow at first and then deeper, more passionate. Aiba sighed happily while wrapping Sho in his arms, so that their bodies could come in contact as well.</p>
<p>The sweet moment though was interrupted by Sunny and Shoko, who thought to throw a party in their bedroom, and climbed onto the bed jumping and barking excitedly.</p>
<p>They separated unwillingly, but neither of them was mad at the dogs. “I guess we’ll have to close and lock the door next time,” Sho suggested.</p>
<p>“Yeah, definitely,” the other man agreed, before turning to the dogs, “You can’t stay here, I’m sorry. Sho-chan doesn’t want you to sleep with us.”</p>
<p>As Masaki was lifting them to remove them from the bed, Sho stopped him, “It’s fine, they can stay.”</p>
<p>His boyfriend looked at him in disbelief, and sat down again with eyes wide open, “Who are you, and what did you do to my boyfriend?”</p>
<p>He burst out laughing before explaining, “I guess they won me over.”</p>
<p>“Then we can keep them, right?” Aiba asked, surely as a joke and not as something serious.</p>
<p>However, looking straight into his eyes, Sakurai affirmed, “Yes, we can.”</p>
<p>Aiba stared at him blankly for a while, trying to understand if he was being serious or not, and when Sho nodded at him, he threw himself at him.</p>
<p>“I knew that you couldn’t have sent them away! I knew it!” the man exclaimed, “Thank you so much!”</p>
<p>Sho was showered with kisses by his boyfriend and soon even his dogs joined as well. After, Masaki locked his eyes into his before whispering, “Do you realize that we’re an actual family now?”</p>
<p>“We were one even before. The only difference is that…,” he looked at Sunny and Shoko, who were now playing with the sheets, “We got two daughters.”</p>
<p>Masaki smiled widely, and he knew why, so he rushed to clarify himself, “This will be the only time in which I’ll call them like that. They’re wild animals to me.”</p>
<p>“Sure, Sho-chan, sure,” the other man replied, rolling his eyes.</p>
<p>He really wanted to get back at him, but Aiba was already distracted with cuddling the puppies and he was too busy staring at them while grinning. He knew that this decision wasn’t going to be the wisest one, but raising these two stray dogs with Masaki was something he wasn’t going to regret.</p>
<p> </p>
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